Tennis guides and news

Britain number one Andy Murray eased through to the third round of the 2015 Wimbledon men’s singles championship as he earned a 6-1 6-1 6-4 victory over Dutch tennis star Robin Haase. Murray, who lifted the trophy back in 2013, has his eyes set on glory this year after a difficult spell with numerous injury problems and will be well supported throughout the entirety of the two-week tournament. If he is to reach the final, the 28-year-old must overcome some very talented players after he was handed a nightmare draw. In fact, if results go completely against the Scot, he could face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last-16 before a semi-final encounter with Wimbledon legend Roger Federer. If Murray is going to lift the men’s singles championship on 12th July, he is going to have to do it the hard way and may face close rival and world number one Novak Djokovic in the final.

by Carine06

Murray has been in exceptional form since the turn of the year and has looked full of confidence in his opening two matches at Wimbledon so far. Earlier in the season, Murray was beaten by Djokovic in the Australian Open final but gave an excellent account of himself on the Serbian’s favoured hard court surface. Since then, he has won three tournaments – the Bavarian International Tennis Championships, the Miami Masters and the Queen’s Club Championships – and is one of the leading candidates to achieve success at Wimbledon. It could be argued that Murray is in the form of his life and, on current form, it would be difficult to back against the British number one as he chases down a third Grand Slam title. Throughout the course of the year, Murray has won 42 matches and lost just six – helping him to climb back up to number three in the world rankings. The Scot is certainly receiving plenty of support from the public this week and British fans will be hoping that this can spur Murray on throughout the competition.

Good luck to @andy_murray today at Wimbledon! Let's hope he can win his third Slam.

In his opening match of his home event, Murray was paired against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. Murray disposed of the world number 59 with relative ease as he claimed a 6-4 7-6 6-4 victory in straight sets to reach the second round. Although there were a few hairy moments, the Scot played a number of breathtaking shots to send a timely reminder to the likes of Tsonga and Federer. In his second match, Murray was unplayable and dominated all three sets against Haase to claim victory in just 87 minutes. The British number one put on a brilliant show for the fans as he made a huge statement of intent ahead of his third round fixture – which will be against either Croatia’s Borna Coric or number 25 seed Andreas Seppi of Italy. Some of the key statistics from Murray’s opening round clash with Kukushkin can be seen below.

However, world number one Djokovic remains a formidable figure and the Serbian will be extremely confident of claiming his second Grand Slam title of the year. Djokovic, who beat Roger Federer in a five set thriller in last year’s final, is looking to cement his place as one of tennis’ greatest ever players and is looking for his ninth major championship title. He is coached by the legendary Boris Becker and has been outstanding since teaming up with the German back in 2013. This season, Djokovic has won 43 matches and has lost just three – with one of those defeats crucially coming in the French Open semi-final to dash any dreams of a calendar year Grand Slam. As always, the Serbian – who hasn’t been knocked out of a Grand Slam tournament before the quarter-finals since 2009 – will be looking forward to the business end of the competition and could face Stanislas Wawrinka in the last four. The Polish star beat Djokovic to the French Open title last month and there is no doubt that the world number one will be looking for revenge if they clash once again.

by Carine06

So far, the world number one has breezed past his opponents with ease and is yet to face a serious challenge. In his first round match with Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, Djokovic claimed a 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory in a relatively straightforward contest. The German, who was ranked as highly as 16th in the world back in 2012, struggled to perform at his best and made a number of unforced errors as the Serbian dominated proceedings. Many had suggested that the 31-year-old, who is the last tennis player to knock Djokovic out of a Grand Slam tournament prior to the quarter-finals, could cause the world number one problems but the defending champion was good enough to get the job done and advance to the second round. In the second round, Djokovic made light work of Jarkko Nieminen as he earned a 6-4 6-2 6-3 victory in just 91 minutes – four slower than Murray’s victory over Haase.

The Serbian has a brilliant record at Wimbledon and has won 45 of his 53 matches at the iconic grass court venue. He has reached the semi-finals in each of the past five years and has gone on to lift the trophy twice – once in 2011 and then again last year. Meanwhile, he has a staggering 85% win ratio at Wimbledon and the world number one has always insisted that it is one of his favourite competitions on the calendar. His aggressive style suits the grass court and his incredible ability to return excellent serves means that he very rarely concedes aces to opponents. Many people will be backing Djokovic to go on and win his ninth Grand Slam title on 12th July and, at the time of writing, betfair are pricing the world number one at 6/5 to lift the Wimbledon trophy this summer. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the Serbian compete in yet another Grand Slam final and, if he’s matched up with Andy Murray, the two players are sure to put on a great show for the fans. Here is a repeat of their recent encounter in the Australian Open final earlier this year.

Concurrently, the British number one also has a fantastic record at Wimbledon and is more than capable of beating the best players in the world on the grass court. Murray has a very similar record to Djokovic at the venue and has won 41 of his 49 matches in the competition throughout his career – earning an impressive win ratio of 84%. The Scot has reached the quarter-finals in each of the last seven years and has performed admirably at other Grand Slam events throughout the same time period. On current form, he is capable of beating any player on the planet and the likes of Tsonga and Federer will be worried after his demolition of Haase. Although the Dutchman made 24 unforced errors, Murray also hit plenty of winners as the confidence began to flow. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see him compete in Centre Court’s showpiece event for the third time in four seasons and hopefully, for British supporters anyway, he can go all the way and win his second Wimbledon title.

Tennis is a psychological sport and Murray will need to be completely focussed if he is to claim his second Wimbledon title this summer. Over the course of the season so far, the Scot has lost four times to Djokovic at either the semi-final or final stage of a competition – giving the world number one a huge psychological edge over Murray. If Murray reaches the final but then allows this statistic to play on his mind, he may struggle to compete against the Serbian star. However, the British number one is tenacious and is made of stern stuff. He appears to be level headed and can control his emotions throughout matches. Furthermore, although Murray holds a dismal record against the world number one, he is yet to lose to Djokovic on a grass court. The Scot earned a thrilling win against the Serbian at the Olympics in 2012 before claiming the Wimbledon title against the Serbian just 12 months on.

Another key factor for Murray will be the home support and the huge boost that the supporters provide when he is struggling. The Wimbledon crowd have always supported British competitors, from the days of Sue Barker and Tim Henman to today’s era with Murray and Heather Watson, supporters have always provided great encouragement at the venue. Tennis legends such as Federer and Rafael Nadal will always have impressive followings at any Grand Slam event but the Wimbledon crowd tend to remain loyal towards any British competitors throughout the tournament. After Murray’s victory back in 2013, the Scot praised the crowd for their role throughout the competition and admitted that he couldn’t have lifted the trophy if it wasn’t for their continued support.

It would be foolish to dismiss Federer’s chances of claiming a phenomenal eighth Wimbledon crown this summer. The Swiss athlete, who is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, reached the final of the grass court event last year but will be looking to go one better and further stake his claim as the best to ever grace the court. The 33-year-old hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since victory at Wimbledon back in 2012 but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the veteran raise his performance level for one last push at the crown. Federer, who could play Murray in the semi-finals, failed to reach the last four of both the Australian Open and French Open earlier this season and this could be his last realistic chance of success at the iconic grass court event that has been so good to him over the years. The supporters certainly believe that Federer can still challenge for the crown this year.

In 2015, Federer has already won a number of tournaments and has emerged victorious in 36 of his 42 matches. He opened the calendar year with a triumph in the Brisbane International event before beating Djokovic in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The Swiss star also claimed victory in the Istanbul Open on the clay surface before the 33-year-old earned a win in the Halle Open – the last grass court event that Federer entered before the start of Wimbledon. This achievement may have provided the seven-time Wimbledon men’s singles champion with the motivation and confidence he needed to push for one last moment of glory on Centre Court. It will be by no means easy for Federer to reach the final but he is more than capable of producing a world-class performance to beat any of the sport’s elite competitors.

If the draw goes as expected, Murray will face world number one Djokovic in the Wimbledon men’s singles final on 12th July. On current form, it’s difficult to split the two players as they have both played some scintillating tennis throughout 2015. However, if the Scot can cope with the psychological side of the rivalry, Murray will stand a great chance of lifting the Wimbledon trophy for the second time and earning a third Grand Slam triumph. The Serbian is a phenomenal player but, in front of his home crowd, Murray could edge it in a match that could go the full five sets.

No player is perfect! There is always a tennis strategy that can ruin your opponents day. Nadal, for example, finally found a slight sliver of a hairline crack in poor ole Fed’s armor! He has been whipping up spin balls to Federers’ backhand ever since, causing huge damage to possibly the best player who’s ever lived! There are always players that you will think

“Ughh! I got to play that guy?!” Well, those players tend to natural play with a playing style that employs a tactic that you dislike. Such as high balls or slicing backhands.

Having been a college player in the SEC, I certainly have been in the midst of tennis strategies!

The coaches spend more time analyzing strategies and tactics than perhaps Napoleon did before invading Russia. They know it is absolutely crucial to the winning of a match.

Singles Tennis Strategies – are basically your plan while on the tennis court.

Your anti-opponent plan! It is a big deal, not only because you are using tactics that exploit your opponents’ weaknesses, therefore incapacitating his strengths. Furthermore, having a good tennis tactic will do more than just that. It will give you confidence, but more on that later.

Tennis Doubles Strategy – In this clever game, full of dialogue and surprise, strategical planning and communication are of the essence.

Different tactics are discussed such as “I formation” which is where one player crouches down to the ground and springs up to a certain side after the serve, I will also suggest how to make it most effective.

As well as the “I formation” doubles tactics such as “Australian formation” are mentioned and other useful tips such as… where to serve when playing doubles?

What’s Tennis Strategy, Why Is It Such A Big Deal?

Being a man with a plan, (such as Rafael Nadal tennis plan when he plays Federer) gives you confidence in times of pressure! It removes doubts, that otherwise start to sneak in.

Furthermore, there are many different types of tennis courts and as a player learning to adjust your playing style and tactics to the specific court your playing on is key! That leads me onto a whole new section that I find critical when playing tennis… Strategies for different tennis surfaces! Read more below.

Clay Tennis Court Strategies – How to win on a clay court. When playing on a clay tennis court, tennis becomes completely different, the balls come at different speeds, the bounces are different, it is slippery and players end up sliding. So it is vital for players to know their tennis strategy and “play their cards” differently.

On top of this, It loads that pressure on to your opponent because you will make them play their most shaky shot. Your opponent knows it’s coming. He or she will miss it eventually, and… He or she will be angry, frustrated, and nervous because they knows the shot is coming their way again!

A great example of tennis tactics is in “Winning Ugly” by Brad Gilbert! I suggest you take a look, if you haven’t already It’s great.

The tennis serve is the only shot where you have the ball in your hand, and all the options in the world are available to you. It is a chance to start your opponent off in the worst possible position! So, it can be highly destructive to the opponent if we can make good use of your tennis serve!

Here we will look at how to serve in tennis. There will be suggestions and guidance on how to make your serve in tennis MORE effective with LESS effort. For the tennis serve to be deadly it needs to have, different spins, disguise, consistency, and lastly it needs to be fast fast and fast!

The last point covered so much detail, that i decided it warranted its own page on tennis how to serve fast If you improve these four points, of EQUAL importance, then you are well on your way to how to serve in tennis.

So, lets get straight to it!!

The Tennis Serve Spins

Your opponent is getting every tennis serve back? Maybe he or she has a weak forehand or backhand? Spin can work wonders for situations like these. There are 2 main types of spin.

The Slice Serve

To serve a good slice serve people find it easier to toss the ball further to the right. This however, causes a conflict with our disguise on the tennis serve. People will easily read your slice serve and be waiting for it with a smile.

Instead, the toss should be in exactly the same spot as your other first serve in tennis, (Half a foot in front of you and half a foot to the right of you). If you imagine a clock face then you should toss the ball in line with one o’clock. Next, sneakily adjust your grip. Twist it a fraction clockwise, from your usual chopper grip for the serve. This will help add more spin. When you strike the ball, aim to brush the right side of the ball.

The follow through is critical for a slice serve. Instead of the racquet finishing down by your left foot, the racquet will finnish higher up above your left elbow. This will help make that beautiful curl on the ball, it will also ensure the ball passes the net!

The Tennis Serve Kick

The kick serve is a shot that many players find hard to achieve. Nevertheless, it is even more of a mission to return well. Firstly, your toss will need to be slightly behind your head for the kick serve. If you imagine a clock-face, 11 p.m. is where you will want to make contact with the ball!

Why the toss there? Well, it enables us to do the second step!

Secondly, because the toss is slightly behind you, your back will be bent backwards putting stress on your core abdominal muscles, (this is why core abdominal muscles are so important for tennis players). From this position, you will brush up the back of the ball (your racquet will be close to horizontal to the ground at contact point) and continue to extend your arm up into the sky while using your abdominal muscles to snap you back to your original linear position.

Note: The arm extension is achieved by straightening out your arm from the elbow joint. It is a similar action to waving at some one in the far distance.

Thirdly and lastly, Your legs will play a Vital role. They need to be bent, then extended upwards to meet the ball at contact point. This is the difficult thing about hitting a good kick serve! It is all about synchronizing your legs exploding upwards with your abdominal muscles snapping forwards and your arm brushing up behind the ball!

It takes a lot of practice! One of the best drills you can do for your kick serve is to layout a towel on the floor, and get on your knees. Toss the ball behind you, and practice hitting kick serves like that. When you get back on your feet it will feel easier to generate kick.

Practice makes perfect with the kick serve, develop the kick of a donkey behind your serve and you will not be disappointed with its potential!

The tennis Serve in Disguise!

You only have about 1 second to return a serve in tennis. A player’s inner self subconsciously gets used to trends and patterns in the servers’ routine. That way he or she can anticipate where the ball is going to land. If you can gain a unreadable tennis serve the opponent can no longer anticipate it! John Mcenroe, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer are all famous tennis players serve in tennis that have mastered this how to serve in tennis art of disguise!

Firstly, as mentioned before, a closed stance is probably the most important factor in gaining disguise on the serve in tennis!

Look at the photo of Roger Federer or Marat Safin for a closed stance. Please note that some of these are VERY closed stances… You will most likely find it very difficult to close your stance that much.

Secondly, try holding shoulder position with your back almost facing the opponent. Then uncoil and rotate into your shot!

Finally, when you practice your tennis serve… this simple exercise will help you A LOT! toss up the ball and then, at the last second before you hit, have a friend shout out either: T, Middle, or Wide. You then have to try and hit the ball in the location he shouted out

A simple drill, but highly effective in making your tennis serve as clear as mud to read!

Tennis Serve Consistency problems?

Don’t worry, gaining consistency in the tennis serve is not that difficult! It is a combination of rhythm and practice. Or practicing your rhythm As discussed previously, your rhythm, can help you gain power and consistency. Of course one element that can bring the tennis serve crashing down is a bad toss! So as a final note:

To toss the ball effectively hold the ball between your first four fingers. DO NOT hold or grab the ball. Then bring your arm up guiding the ball and release it when your arm is extended.

As we come to the end of the ATP World Tour, just one final match remains before we are thrust into the high intensity thrills of the Australian Open in January.

The Davis Cup final has been a hugely exciting ride ever since it first began in December, seeing world famous stars such as Rafael Nadal representing their countries in men’s singles and doubles matches.

After eliminating most of the competition however, it now comes down to just two champions – France and Switzerland.

This will be a particularly exciting match for the Swiss side, who have not made it through to a Davis Cup final in 22 years. France, meanwhile, last made the final just four years ago, but ultimately lost out to Serbia. They made it through to this year’s final back in September when they beat the Czech Republic in the doubles rubber, thanks to the racketing talents of Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The Swiss team, meanwhile, do not have history on their side when it comes to being paired with France – having met 12 times previously, they have only won twice, but 2014 could be the year in which this is all about to change.

Boasting both Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss team have every reason for success this year. At World Number 4 and Swiss Number 2, Wawrinka will surely be a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, Roger Federer may not have age on his side but he certainly has experience, and to this day continues to be considered on the worldwide tennis circuit as one of the ‘big four’ – Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Moreover, not only is Federer World Number 2, but he has also proven his on-court chemistry with Stan Wawrinka. The pair are tipped to play both in the men’s singles and the doubles rubbers at the events on 21st November. Without a doubt, Swiss tennis fans will be hoping that the pair can repeat their 2008 Olympic performance, in which they took home the gold medal in the men’s double event.

However, despite Switzerland being the favourite to take the victory, France have reason to be confident for the upcoming event. With the talents of World Number 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, not to mention years of successful history on their side, this could make for a very exciting Davis Cup final indeed.

Tennis betting is a completely different animal from other types of sports bets. You need to be aware of that before you place your bets. Looking at different markets as far as outcomes is a good thing. Do you want to get out of just betting on favorites? Then this guide is for you.

Smart bankroll management is a good thing. Try to avoid getting sucked into what the television commentators have to say about anything. Even popular sports sites like ESPN often get it wrong a swell. If you’re going to get deep into betting on sports you need to make sure that you’re looking at independent data, not just the sentiments of the crowd. That’s steered plenty of people off the cliff over the years.

Tennis takes into account a lot more than just the players. It’s an outdoor sport, so you’re still at the mercy of weather. Field conditions will also play a role, as few players are at their best on every single type of court. You should look at the surface of the court. Some players really excel on hard court, while others falter big time. Other players are big on grass, but weak on clay courts.

Looking at the situation makes a difference as well. You can’t just assume the favorite to win it will be at their best on a non-major event. Injuries play into the situation as well. We can’t bet the farm on someone that’s recovering from an awful elbow injury, or a knee that just keeps giving them problems. The only exception to this is if you have tracked a player’s movements while they’ve been recovering from an injury. If they seem to keep giving you great performance in spite of the injury, then chances are good that they are a safe bet.

Players coming in and out of retirement or short hiatuses are quite common in the tennis world. Tennis is a sport that takes a lot out of you, so it’s obvious that some people want to step back for a while. Look at players that have been training hard before a big match. That will tell you if they are truly committed to playing, or if they’re just trying to satisfy an endorsement contract that says they still have to play some games.

The more data that you have to sift through, the better decisions that you’ll make. Don’t look at just the big names of tennis. Take time to sift through a database of newer players. They’re younger, hungrier, and ready to take it all. Betting on them may reveal pockets of money that you didn’t expect. Check it out for yourself!

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray cannot dominate the sport forever, and we are already starting to see tennis’ titanic quartet submerge, as a new crop of talent bid to take over their reign.

Arguably the greatest player the game has seen, Federer is now 33 and, although he continues lift trophies here and there, it is highly probable his record-breaking Grand Slam haul of 17 will forever stand still.

Spaniard Nadal, meanwhile, has once again had to take time off from the tour – this time due to appendicitis – meaning he misses the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. He should be back for the Australian Open in January, though, and is a 7/2 chance with Coral bookmakers to claim his 15th Grand Slam, as he is so determined to break Federer’s record.

Murray and Djokovic’s achievements in tennis’ four biggest tournaments have declined this season too, with the former not reaching a final for the first time since 2009, and the latter falling shorter than expected at the Australian and US Opens.

Prior to this year, just one man, Juan Martin Del Potro, was able to break the Grand Slam dominance of the ‘big four’ in the previous 35 tournaments, but 2014 saw Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic claim maiden titles.

While Wawrinka, aged 29, is soon to pass his peak, 26-year-old Croatian Cilic has the potential to cause a few more upsets, after defeating another up-and-coming star Kei Nishikori, 24, in the recent US Open final. The trio can be backed at 12/1, 14/1 and 20/1 respectively to win on the hard surface at the Australian Open in early 2015.

Other names who could potentially push the ‘big four’ all the way next year, include Murray’s US Open conqueror Grigor Dmitrov and Wimbledon semi-finalist Milos Raonic, who are both 23. Both players have highly impressed in tournaments leading up to the upcoming Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena, and can certainly push on and take confidence in Cilic and Nishikori’s exploits.

The era of the sport’s top four most-talented players is, of course, not over, with Djokovic, Murray (both 27) and Nadal (28) still supposedly in their prime. But a new wave of talent is emerging, and they can continue to usurp their falling giants.

Tennis is already here, and this fact makes some folks panic when they really don’t need to at all. You see, there’s still plenty of time to make tennis betting profitable. You just need to make sure that you are definitely giving yourself plenty of time to drill down appropriately.

What do we mean by this? Well, a few things. One, you need to decide the type of bets that you want to place, and where you want to place them. If you’re going to go bonus hunting, now is the time to do that. Of course, if you already have a sportsbook online that meets your needs, and then you’re good to go. For those that are in the market looking, there are a few things that you need to be aware of with a sportsbook as well as tennis betting.

In tennis, people get injured, and this takes them out of the game. Well, what happens when you’ve laid down hard earned cash for a player to win it big? You could end up losing your bet money, doubly so if you’ve done an accumulator that depends on that player multiple times in different configurations. You need to make sure that you’re doing bets at a place that cancels your bet if the player you’re wagering on gets injured or retires before they actually complete the match. Retirements have happened before, especially if the player suddenly becomes very prone to injury. They figure that it’s better to leave on a high note than get caught up trying to heal. Tennis takes a toll on the body, so tennis players tend to stop playing when they’ve had enough.

You want to go for the match wins, even though more exotic bets are out there. In our opinion, the exotic bets take away from proper tennis handicapping.

It sounds like common sense, but you really want to get to know all of the players that you’re going to wager on. Yes, there are sites that offer tennis picks. While this isn’t a bad idea in principle, in practice it sounds ridiculous. Do you really want to trust your wins on what other people say? If they’re betting from the gut, then you’re betting form the gut. You just have to hope that their gut picks are better than yours. Going for the crowd favorite isn’t always the best ting either. The truth is that tennis players are still human. They can have bad days just like we do. What’s stopping that favored player from having an injury, or just not playing their usual best?

Don’t forget to weigh all of these factors when you’re trying to figure out how you’re going to place those bets. As a gentle reminder, don’t invest too much into your tennis betting. If you have your eye on betting on more than one sport, you still want to have enough left over to use in other markets.

Calculate and recalculate your odds and potential wins. If you can cover losses with wins from another match, you should definitely do so. But know when it’s time to walk away from the wagering tables for a while. You don’t want to get burned out, you know! Tennis is about enjoying the game from every angle, so if something stops feeling right it’s time to quit!

At this point at Wimbledon it seems pretty easy to think about who might win in the men’s game. It usually comes down to the main four, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. If you were thinking of having a bet on Wimbledon matches then you might choose some of the matches in this early week with these guys playing as you would be sure that they would be able to win.

However, nothing is cut and dried in Wimbledon. There are years when a surprise winner comes through as well as those when the expected four men get through to the semi-finals. This can depend on the draw that they get as well as how well they are doing leading up to the competition as well as on the day that they play.

Roger Federer has been written off a number of times, but he is still doing well, in the top five players and winning matches as well as beating the other top men. Despite having twins, and being the oldest of the four men mentioned, he is still a serious contender. With his new coach Stefan Edberg, who will certainly have a lot to add, having won Wimbledon twice himself, he could be an even more difficult player to beat this year.

Andy Murray has all of the expectation on him, having won the competition last year. However, he no longer has the pressure of beating UK records as the country are no longer desperate to have a British winner. However, his new coach in Amelie Meresmo could help him to win again, but as their relationship is so new, then they will not have had much time to get to know each other. The things he learnt from his last coach Ivan Lendl, last year will still be there though. Continue reading →

The French Open excitement is already building with qualifying matches underway for those who are not lucky enough to automatically get through to the finals. The competition starts on the 25th May and runs through to June 8th and so there is not long to wait. The draws have also been announced, making some people already start to speculate about who might win the championships this year.

There is no surprise that Rafael Nadal is the number one seed this year and if you check your favourite tennis odds then he is likely to be bookies favourite as well. His first few rounds of matches do not look to challenging either, although Tommy Haas and David Ferrer could challenge him later on.

His biggest competition could be Andy Murray in the quarter finals, assuming that they both get that far of course. He could then meet Roger Federer in the semi-finals, but he has quite a tough draw with a lot of well-known players in his quarter. They may not be so good at the moment, but could prove themselves under the pressure of the big tournament. The number two seed Novak Djokovic, also has a pretty tough draw with a lot of good players in his quarter as well, as he will need to beat 25th seed Marin Cilic and then Jo-Wilfred Tsonga who is the thirteenth seed and then a semi-final against Roger Federer to get through to the final. Of course most people would like to see him playing Nadal in the final, but there are a lot of matches between now and then and it is pretty hard to know who will get through at the moment.

Recent form could also help spur on Djokovic who won the Rome Masters recently which put worries about a wrist injury behind him. He beat Nadal in three sets in that final and was his fourth successive win over him so that has to give him confidence. It could also be a grudge match after last years final when he was leading Nadalin the fifth set but was still not able to lift the trophy.

Nadal on the other hand has lost three matches in this season, breaking a ten year record of successive wins. It will also be interesting to see how well Andy Murray fairs having not shown his sparkling form from last years Wimbledon win since having back surgery. Federer is of course always a threat too, but there has been talk of his vulnerability lately and so whether he can push through to the latter matches will be interesting. There is always the chance that someone outside of the top four could do well or even win, it has happened many times before and so it could be a very interesting fortnight of tennis.

Tennis season is in full swing, and that means that you have plenty of ways to add extra cash to your bottom line. No, you don’t have to be a super whiz in order to make money from tennis betting. You do, however, need to get to a source that has great tennis odds. If you do nothing else, this is what will keep you profitable for a long time to come.

Tennis betting is so popular because it doesn’t take much to move your money forward. Tennis is also a sport of great skill. When you bet on a tennis match, you know that each competitor is going to fight as hard as possible to win. That’s not something that you can always say about other sports. So if you have people telling you that tennis is a soft sport, think again. It’s actually more intense than meets the eye.

But you want to get your favourite tennis odds, and you need to get them quickly. Don’t settle for tired listings on forums or off in the paper. They’re not going to give you the most current view on things. You need to do to a site that’s devoted to tennis betting. There are plenty of them online, but there are only a few that truly serve players for the long run. We’ve all seen fly by night operations that make you believe that they’re going to be around to give you great odds on matches, but they fade away. Unfortunately, when one of these bad sites fails there’s like three or four that spring up to replace it.

Getting your odds from a site you trust has incredible benefits. When you have great odds, you can go with advanced tennis handicapping methods, or you can use the odds in a “raw” fashion. It’s completely up to you. Some people like to dig into tennis statistics and thoughts about how each player has played historically. But the world of sports in general is full of upsets. You can be the No 1 seed in tennis and still lose to somebody that’s ranked lower than you are. You can also see somebody that’s ranked fairly low turn into the No 1 seed for a while, only to “fall from grace” with bad matches.

Court selection can change the outcome of a game as well. Like it or not, some tennis players just aren’t good on grass versus when they play on harder surfaces. This is where having a deep history of the players helps.

On most quality sites with tennis odds, you will find players that you can speculate with. They may be able to get you up to speed quickly on a tennis player, which beats having to watch hours of footage to make your decision, or pour over a bunch of numbers. Why not check it out today, while it’s on your mind?